Fly cultures in Cape Town South Africa

[Shawn Orton]

Hi all.

Are there any members that can direct me to suppliers of Blue Bottle or Housefly Larvae or Pupae in Cape Town?

 

[Jono]

None that I've heard of and I've had a good look. You can try Infruitec in stellenbosch, they breed millions of these genetically modified sterile fruitflies each week so usually don't mind giving you a bag of a couple thousand pupae if you are really stuck. A fascinating facility if you have time for a quick tour They are slightly smaller than a housefly, too big for neonates as I found out and they ALL hatch in a week! eek! Ended up feeding most of them to the frogs at the aquarium. Not a long term solution though as I don't think they would want you coming back week after week. Best thing is to start your own cultures from wild flies. Wait a generation if you are worried about what the wild flies have been eating but -'ve never had any problems and mine eat wild flies all the time. Had one take one of those hovering bee things right out of the air the other day.

 

[Shawn Orton]

Thanks Jono. I will contact them asap. I am really keen on producing my own Housefly's but not so keen on the smell. Also, catching enough of them to start a culture might present a problem.